Some daydream thots during church service

Just a thought but have you ever considered that most of the people in the Bible have a 1. Dream or Promise/ 2. Death / 3. resurrection theme? I'm not just talking about physical death, although this was the case for Jesus.

So you have

Abraham and Sarah - promised a child who would produce a nation. Step 2 - saw the promise turn to dust when Sarah did not conceive in 60 -80 years - Step 3, Got a son who God later told Abe to sacrifice, but was saved through Abraham's obedience, etc..

Israel - Promised the Promise Land - got out of Eqypt - ended up lost in the Wilderness for 401st generation had died.

Job - Was Rich / Lost everything and became miserable / got happy and rich again.

Jonah - God told him to preach to Nineveh/ he got swallowed by fish  when he ran away/ repented, and got washed up on Nineveh...

Joseph - Had a dream that his brothers would bow to him / got sold away by his evil brothers as a slave/ finally ended up as head overseer of Egypt etc..

Moses. He had a dream of freeing his people / He then spent 40 years a broken cowardly man prior to the Burning Bush / step 3- Became the leader of Israel and took them to the Promise Land.

Ruth/Naomi - lost husband/son  - Naomi got bitter lost hope in life - but her Moabite daughter-in-law turned out like Gold and got redeemed by a kinsman. A Moab woman; I wonder what Moses, Nehemiah and Ezekial would have said about that. :) Deuteronomy 23:2-3
 
David. He was promised kingship/ he saw it die when he was hunted by King Saul / and then saw the promise come to pass when he became King.
 
Peter - Jesus told him he would be a pillar of the church / he denied Jesus 3 times / he led the first mass altar call ...

Isn't that a recurring theme in the lives of the early believers?

1.Promise/Hope/ 2.Death of the promise/ 3. resurrection and fulfillment of the promise...

All of them had to undergo a trial of fire, a test that lasted for what seemed like eternity before they got what they wanted. Maybe that's good. Checkout Solomon - he practically had everything handed to him on a golden platter and he made a mess of it in the end.

Of course, it wasn't all that way. Plenty of others failed to see part 3 - example Cain/ Saul/ the unknown rich young man /Judas - perhaps in part due to sin/pride/idolatry in their lives.

But I thought I should share this insight as many believers encounter Stage 2 - then despair and wander from the faith if not give up completely.

There is a danger that Christians may choose to attempt to supersede God's role in all this. Case in point: Ishmael. After Abraham and Sarah was barren for such a long time - they decided to fulfill God's promise through human methods. And thus Ishamael through Sarah's servant was born.

I won't be too quick to condemn Abraham and Sarah. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment. Also remember that God wants us to undertake tasks boldly in his name. Sometimes the divide between sin and victory is very thin.

So if you are reading this  - be encouraged. God is faithful. Trust in Him to carry out his promises. He is in charge even though things look dead like Jesus' corpse on Easter Friday.